2016 Reads

These are all the new books I got for Christmas. A pretty good haul, no? I can't wait to get started.



But first, last year's books. I've never kept a list of the books I've read before, but decided to do so in 2016, because I was curious to know how much I read and whether I could average a book a week. The answer: a lot and yes.

Here's what I read last year, pretty much in chronological order, with some annotations, which mean, as follows:

F=fiction
N=nonfiction
P=poetry
RR=reread (a book I've read at least once before)
AB=audiobook (I listened to books in the car quite a bit during my last weeks of work, when I had to drive a lot)
RA=read aloud (I read to the kids on our hiking trip and the drive home)
*=really good, highly recommend, etc. (this could be said for most of the RR books, of course, since I chose to read them a second—or third—time for some reason)

1. The Crossroads of Should and Must. Elle Luna. N.*
2. The Evil BB Chow. Steve Almond. F.
3. Big Magic. Elizabeth Gilbert. N. *
4. The Knitting Circle. Ann Hood. F.
5. Never Let Me Go. Kazuo Ishiguro. F.
6. Gathering Moss. Robin Wall Kimmerer. N.
7. Desert Sojourn. Debbie Holmes-Binney. N. RR.
8. Where the Waters Divide. Karen Berger. N. RR.
9. Shades of Gray, Splashes of Color. Bill Cooke. N.
10. West Wind. Mary Oliver. P.
11. Ultralight Backpackin' Tips. Mike Clelland. N.
12. Women Writing Nature. Barbara J. Cook, ed. N.
13. Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart. Carrot Quinn. N.
14. The Wellspring. Sharon Olds. P.
15. Gold, Fame, Citrus. Clare Vaye Watkins. F.
16. Pelican at Blandings. P.G. Woodhouse. F. RR.
17. Catastrophic Happiness. Catherine Newman. N. *
18. Wild. Cheryl Strayed. N. RR.
19. Bel Canto. Ann Patchett. F. AB. 
20. Forest Under My Fingernails. Walter McLaughlin. N.
21. All the Wild That Remains. David Gessner. N.
22. The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Edith Holden. N.*
23. Wench. Dolen Perkins Valdez. F. *
24. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. Isabella Bird. N. *
25. Still Life With Breadcrumbs. Anna Quindlin. F. AB.
26. Squirrel Meets Chipmunk. David Sederis. F. AB.
27. Life After Life. Kate Atkinson. F. AB. *
28. Farewell Dorothy Parker. Ellen Meister. F. AB.
29. Bossy Pants. Tina Fey. N. AB. RR. *
30. Desert Solitaire. Ed Abbey. N. RR. *
31. Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson. F. RA. RR. *
32. Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mark Twain. F. RA. RR. *
33. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. F. RA. RR. *
34. One Thousand Mornings. Mary Oliver. P.
35. Tomboy Bride. Harriet Fish Backus. N. *
36. The Hour of Land. Terry Tempest Williams. N. *
37. An Italian Wife. Ann Hood. F. *
38. Letters from Eden. Julie Zickefoose. N. *
39. Street of Five Moons. Elizabeth Peters. F. RR. *
40. Silhouette in Scarlet. Elizabeth Peters. F. RR. *
41. Trojan Gold. Elizabeth Peters. F. RR. *
42. Night Train to Memphis. Elizabeth Peters. F. RR. *
43. Laughter of Dead Kings. Elizabeth Peters. F. RR. *
44. Borrower of the Night. Elizabeth Peters. F. RR. *
45. Stop Here. This is the Place. Susan Conley. N.
46. The Epic of Gilgamesh. P. (this is technically an epic poem, could go in new category: Mythology)
47. Shaped by Wind and Water. Ann Zwinger. N. *
48. Murder on the Links. Agatha Christie. F.
49. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. Alexander McCall Smith. F.
50. The Miracle at Speedy Motors. Alexander McCall Smith. F.
51. Stitches in Time. Barbara Michaels. F. RR.
52. Stirring the Mud. Barbara Hurd. N.
53. The Camelot Caper. Elizabeth Peters. F. RR. *
54. Prodigal Summer. Barbara Michaels. F. RR. *
55. Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel. Jane Smiley. N. *
56. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Anne Tyler. F.
57. Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America. Taylor Brorby and Stefanie Brook Trout, eds. F, N, P. *
58. Bridger Jones's Diary. Helen Fielding. F. RR. *
59. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. F. RR. *
60. Holidays on Ice. David Sederis. N/F. RR. *
61. The Crossroads of Should and Must. Elle Luna. N. RR. * (yes, I read this twice in one year)
62. Which Brings Me to You. Steve Almond and Julianna Baggot. F.

Is there any rhyme and reason to this list? I guess some backpacking books, in preparation for our trip. Some escapist fiction when most needed (November into December). Some nature writing that is new, some that is very old. Some poetry because I set out to read more poetry this year. But certainly nothing systematic.

My reading hopes for this year are to:

• read most many of the books on my shelves that I haven't read yet
• have one book of poetry, one of creative nonfiction, one of fiction, and one how-to/inspirational/self-help type nonfiction going at one time, but no more than one of each category, because I tend to spread myself too thin and never finish some things
• read lots of nonfiction about Colorado history, geology, and natural history for research for my book, but make time for pleasure reading as well

To start, I'm reading H is for Hawk (from my pile up there) for a book group, which meets in a week, and am supposed to be reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt with one of my friends, but I haven't started yet and she's been reading it for a while, so I'm woefully behind. Guess I'll have to hunker down and read for a few days. Darn.

What was your favorite read of 2016? What must I add to my list for 2017?